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Environmental Protections Before the Next President · How To Protect The Ocean

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There is a lot going on in the U.S. today.
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We are two weeks away, less than two weeks away from Donald Trump becoming
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president once again. He's made some
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crazy hot takes right now. He said that
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he is going to buy Greenland, he is going to
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take back the Panama Canal, and he's going to make
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my country the 51st state of the U.S., which...
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A couple things to say about that. He also says he's gonna rename the
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Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and
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He wants to drill now President Joe Biden now
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Joe Biden is still president and he has something to say about that drilling He
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did something this week that is pretty interesting and
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we're gonna talk about it on today's episode of the how to protect the ocean podcast
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Let's start the show Hey,
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everybody, welcome back to another exciting episode of the How to Protect the Ocean podcast. I'm
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your host, Andrew Lewin. This is a podcast where you find out what's happening with the ocean, how
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our latest podcast and video podcasts that are available to
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you. So speakupforblue.com forward slash newsletter. Let's
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get into the news because stuff that's coming out of the U.S. since 2025 has
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begun. It's been a little crazy, to be honest, some good, some
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terrible ideas, some terrible ideas. I'll be honest,
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some of the terrible ideas are Annexing Canada as
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a 51st state? That doesn't happen. That's not gonna happen. We're a
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sovereign country. Sorry, Donald Trump. That's not gonna happen. Buying Greenland
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that's owned by Denmark? Nope, not gonna happen. Taking
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back the Panama Canal? That'll be interesting to see how
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that happens. I don't think that'll happen. It belongs to Panama. They've said no. I don't
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think it's happening. And now, this week, Donald
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Trump has announced that he wants to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to
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the Gulf of, you guessed it, America. Now
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this is an interesting one and I want to start off with this because these are these
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are pretty hot takes and and I don't want to comment necessarily on
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you know, his policies or anything like that. But when it comes to oceans,
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when it comes to marine conservation, we have to
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talk about this. We are also gonna talk about President Biden's actions
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about banning oil drilling by going through a certain act
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that was inaugurated or put to force in
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1956, which is a pretty smart move. I don't know if that'll help, but it's a
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pretty smart move. We'll also talk about the monuments and the marine protected areas
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that he expanded and renamed. We're gonna talk about that all today. Like I said, a
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lot of stuff has happened in the US. But let's start with
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changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf
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of America. That can't really happen. The United States
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cannot unilaterally rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of
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America because the naming of geographic features, particularly
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international bodies of water, involves historical, cultural
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and diplomatic considerations that transcend any
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one nation's authority. That's the first thing, the first question I
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had is like, can he actually do this? I mean, he can do
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it where he has everybody in the US call it Gulf of America, but the
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rest of the world will still call it the Gulf of Mexico. So when it
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comes to international recognition, the Gulf of Mexico's name is
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internationally recognized as used in treaties,
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maps, and documents worldwide. Changing it would require
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significant international consensus, which they're never going to get. The
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name reflects historical and geographical realities as
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the Gulf borders not only the United States, but also Mexico and
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Cuba. So are we going to call it the Gulf of Cuba? Or are they going to call it the Gulf
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of Mexico, Cuba, and America? Can't do that. It's not going
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to happen. Historical and cultural significance. The name Gulf of
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Mexico has been used since the 16th century and
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reflects the region's history, including Spanish exploration and
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the influence of Mexico. International naming bodies. Geographic
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names are often standardized through organizations like the
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United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names, the
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UNGEGN, they love, United Nations loves their
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acronyms, and other international bodies. Any attempt to
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rename the Gulf would require international agreement, which they're not going to get,
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likely through diplomatic efforts involving multiple nations.
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That's not going to happen. Because let's be honest, the U.S. right now
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and in two weeks is not going to be playing nice. And I have a feeling a lot of
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people will not be playing nice back. Diplomatic consequences? Renaming
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the Gulf to the Gulf of America could be perceived as dismissive of
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Mexico's sovereignty and shared stake in the region. This
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might strain U.S.-Mexico relations, which they're pretty strained already, and
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potentially create broader diplomatic tensions. We've seen video of
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the president of Mexico mocking the
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naming of the Gulf of Mexico change to the Gulf of America, and
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she actually says, why don't we just name the western U.S.
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Mexico? because that's what it was. So obviously,
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people aren't really taking it lightly. Domestic considerations.
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Even within the US, such a proposal could face opposition from
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historians, geographers, environmentalists, and others who
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value the historical and cultural significance of the current name. The
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point being, you can't just come up and say, hey, you know what? Let's
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make America great again. Let's make America first in everything. Let's start renaming
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international bodies of water from Gulf of Mexico to
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the Gulf of America. You can't do that. It's not going to be the America Ocean
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or the Pacific America Ocean. You can't just do that. This is a
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worldwide decision. It has nothing to do with the US, as
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I've read before just off of the documents that I got. And
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so let's be honest, it's not going to happen. All
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the stuff that he's saying is not going to happen. He
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thinks he wants to do it, but he's not. And you kind of wonder why
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he's going on these tangents. Maybe it's because he can't do
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the first promise of lowering groceries and securing borders. Who
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knows? I don't want to comment on the politics, but it just seems like
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his last term didn't do that. This
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term, I don't see anything else happening. However, he
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does have a lot more control in the government. So
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who knows what's going to happen? With that said, President
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Biden has now banned offshore
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drilling and gas drilling across 65 million
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acres of federal waters. This action
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aims to protect sensitive marine ecosystems in
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the Atlantic, Arctic, and Pacific Oceans, as
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well as the eastern Gulf of Mexico. So
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by implementing this prohibition through an executive order, Biden
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has made it more challenging for future administrations to reverse the
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decision. It still can be reversed though, because according to
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this article on CNN, and I know it's CNN, I know not a
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lot of people love CNN, but this article was pretty in depth in
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terms of what it did. Biden used and invoked the
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1953 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. It's a law that gives presidents
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broad authority to withdraw federal waters from
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future oil and gas leasing and development. This law does not give
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presidents explicit authority to revoke the action and place
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federal waters back into development, meaning President-elect Donald
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Trump would have to get Congress to change it before he
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could reverse Biden's move. Now he can't, so Donald Trump cannot do it
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just on his own. You can't just come back in and use an executive order
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to say, hey, we're going to take that 650 million acres of
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water back and we're going to allow it to be explored for drilling.
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He's not going to do that. But he needs to get Congress to do
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that. And he has control of Congress. from my understanding,
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quite a significant control. So I don't know if he can actually do it in Congress. I don't
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have full in-depth knowledge of that body of
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legislation, but I think it'll be interesting to
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see. What's interesting that I didn't realize is
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that Trump doesn't like it, obviously, but in his last
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term in 2020, Trump
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actually moved to ban offshore drilling while he was
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president, between 2016 and 2020. After proposing
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a major expansion of offshore drilling early in his first term, Trump
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in 2020 extended a ban on future oil drilling in the Eastern
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Gulf and expanded it to the Atlantic coast of three states, Florida,
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Georgia, and South Carolina. Now, I remember at this time it was
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Republican held states, and I think that's what they wanted. They opened it
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up on the West Coast, and he opened up on the Northeast Coast. Those were
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mostly Democratic states, so I think there was a little bit of push
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and shove in terms of political changes in there
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or political differences in there. But the incoming secretary, Carolyn Leavitt,
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who lambasted the decision at first by Biden,
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as this is a disgraceful decision designed to exact political revenge on
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the American people who gave President Trump a mandate to increase drilling and
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lower gas prices. Rest assured, Joe Biden will fail, and
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we will, quote, drill, baby, drill. So obviously, a
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number of oil executives lashed out. They're not happy. But
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the interesting part of this article that says there's little economic impact
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that's gonna happen here. Quote, this is from Tom Klaza, Global Head
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of Energy Analysis at the Oil Price Information Service. He
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says, It's not particularly consequential for
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U.S. exploration and production going forward. He says,
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noted that there are plenty of existing offshore rigs pumping oil in
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the Gulf of Mexico and added that offshore projects typically take six
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to eight years to even come online. He goes, I don't see it as having
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a real impact on U.S. supply, exports, and imports. So
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essentially, U.S. is currently drilling. So
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this will help in the future, but it's not really going to affect the economy right
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now. It's not going to help the economy, and it's not going to, even
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if they drill, and it's not going to impede the economy right now if
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they don't drill. It takes six to eight years to get online, to
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get things pumping, and that's just not going to happen right now. Biden agreed.
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He says we do not need to choose between protecting the environment and growing
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our economy or between keeping our ocean healthy or
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coastlines resilient and the food they produce secure and
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keeping energy prices low. Those are false choices.
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Now, as you know, President Biden has increased the
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the amount or through specific legislation has
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done a lot to increase the protections of
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the environment and to do more about the,
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let's just say, drilling of oil and trying to
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bring down climate change or reduce climate change, right? It's these actions
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that he's done, including establishing a
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new national monument on January 7th, 2025. President
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Biden designated the Chukwala, and I'm going to not
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pronounce this properly, Satitla, Highlands
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National Monuments in California contribute
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to the conservation of marine and coastal environments. He also renamed
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the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument that
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was renamed to Pacific Islands Heritage Marine
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National Monument to honor traditional voyages and cultural connections in
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the region. This initiative reflects the commitment to preserving both natural and
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cultural marine heritage. He also provided
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more guidance on January 7th, released a guidance to assist
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companies in obtaining clean energy tax credits under the
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Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. This act, if you remember,
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is helping to reduce climate change. This program extends subsidies to
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various low-carbon energy sources, including marine energy,
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aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote sustainable ocean
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energy solutions. So they align with the broader environmental policy
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goals, including the America the Beautiful initiative, which
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aims to conserve 30% of the U.S. lands and waters by
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2030. So there have been significant changes in policy that the
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Biden administration has done over the last week. There's also
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been some significant claims that the incoming President Donald
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Trump has made about what he wants the US to do in
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the future. Both are having a lot of talks. It's
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been pretty interesting to see how people feel in
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the US, in Canada, in Denmark, in It's
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really interesting how all of these policies kind of come together. But
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it really, I think a lot of the claims that Donald Trump
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wants to do or things that he wants to do is not going to turn into
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anything. It just doesn't look like it can happen because these are not territories
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of the U.S. These are sovereign nations or part of sovereign nations
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and it'll be interesting to see how this goes.
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Some people are saying don't don't listen. He's just saying these words for
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attention. Other people are like, well, he is the incoming president and
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some of these words can be very scary to a lot of people in different countries.
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Hopefully, these are just jokes and he's just. he's
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Do you think that will work, or do you think that Congress and
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Donald Trump will ensure that these lands are made available? It'll
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definitely be harder for them to drill. Will it be worth it? Do you
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think they'll need to drill anyway? Donald Trump has always
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said, we're going to continue to drill and drill and drill to keep money in the country.
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That could cause oil spills and so forth, so it can affect the ocean
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environment. But also, he never really expanded too much while
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he was president the first time. Actually, I think Biden's approved more more
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fossil fuel or more oil drilling than any other president.
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So I think it'll be interesting to see what happens. But I'd love to hear your
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thoughts on this. You can DM me on Instagram at HowToProtectTheOcean. Do
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you think any of the claims made by Donald Trump is going to happen? Do you think that
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he'll rename the Gulf of Mexico? Do you think he definitely
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won't annex Canada? So you don't even have to answer that. But do you think the
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land protected by Biden or the water protected by Biden will stay protected?
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I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. I don't have totally in-depth knowledge of
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the laws and the regulations within the U.S. government,
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so I'd love to hear from American friends what you think. DM me
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on Instagram at HowToProtectTheOcean. If you want more information and
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so much for joining me on today's episode of the How to Protect the Ocean podcast from
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